ABSTRACT

British withdrawal from South-East Asia will seriously weaken her ability to influence American policy there, to the detriment of the interests of her friends in the area and, indeed, to the detriment of the interests of Britain and the USA. If Britain is to make an effective political contribution to East Asian stability, she must retain-within the limitations of an increasingly inter-dependent world-an independent political status and power for independent political initiative. The burden of the primary purpose of British defence policy, home security, will become less onerous. Britain has a valuable and distinctive political role to play in East Asia provided that she accepts its military implications. The purpose of attempts to stabilise the seething region of South and East Asia, politically and militarily, is to freeze that mythical state of affairs, the status quo. Decolonisation led to contraction of British military as well as political responsibilities.